Boys in Pink

My son absolutely loves pink. He wants pink shirts, pink soccer cleats, you name it.. he really just likes the color.

So when we were in our local thrift store the other day he asked me if I could make him a pink shirt from this shirt. Insert happy mommy face that he even thinks like this now :)


I immediately remembered this book that I have been dying to create something out of.


and this pattern


Meg blogs over at Sew Liberated. Her patterns are wonderfully crafted and she blogs beautifully about her children, crafting, and much more. Hop over to her blog to see and read much more.

So, back to my shirt for Hudson. He wanted pink and it needed to be comfy. I was super excited and was very happy with the outcome (even if the critics think it's "too girlie") He also loves it!


I guess he is modeling here. It was too funny.

Dancing around means he is super excited.



Way to rock the pink buddy!

Pinterest DIY Lotion review

Daily Pinterest Review here.

I made homemade lotion on Sunday. I really like this recipe, however, I used Grapeseed Oil and next time I will use Coconut Oil. It's a tad greasy which is fine by me, but my husband is anti-greasy hands. Plus, to be honest, it gets my Iphone a tad greasy and I don't care for that ;-)

Here's the recipe I followed: Homemade Body Lotion. It hails from the blog: Ready Made. I love this blog and if I ever found time to dive into it deeper, I most definitely would.

Here's what we did:

First get your beeswax.


Then grate it:


Take your grapeseed oil:


Place your grated beeswax in a Pyrex measuring cup with the grapeseed oil (works best if you have a little helper):



Place Pyrex cup mixture in a pan and then fill the pan with water. The water should come half way up the Pyrex cup, then boil:


Boil until the beeswax has melted. It will all be melted once the beeswax has dissolved:


Add to blender on medium speed. You will also add your distilled water to the mixture. It will look like this:



Blend until it is no longer watery. My husband prefers lotion in a pump vs glass jar. I used a funnel to get it through the tiny pump hole:


Once that is done, you have your lotion. It's really great and a fantastic project to do with toddlers.

Enjoy!

Here are the directions from ReadyMade

Handmade Body Moisturizer Recipe

Like fresh food, this will go bad after a certain period of time. If you don’t think you’ll use it within three months, store it in the refrigerator. Makes approximately 2 cups

1 cup filtered water, cold brewed tea, orange blossom water, or rose water
¾ cup oil such as olive, almond, unrefined coconut, or avocado
3 tablespoons grated beeswax
Optional: a few drops of essential oil of your choice, for fragrance

1. Set up a blender and pour in the water. Prepare clean, dry glass jars for packaging and have them nearby.

2. Put the oil and the beeswax in a Pyrex measuring cup. Place the cup in a pan or small pot and pour in water to reach about halfway up the cup. Bring the water to a gentle boil, and heat the oil and beeswax until the beeswax melts. You’ll know when the wax is melted because you won’t see it anymore. As soon as the wax is melted, remove the cup from the water and let the oil cool for 2 minutes.

3. Turn on the blender and start blending the water at medium speed. Remove the stopper in the blender lid so you can pour the oil through the top while blending. Slowly pour in the oil and the mixture will begin to emulsify. If there is still some water on the surface, turn up the blender and blend the mixture 30 seconds to a minute longer. If you’re using essential oil, blend it in now.

4. With a clean rubber spatula, transfer the cream to the glass jars. Cover the jars with cheesecloth for an hour, or until they’ve reached room temperature. Placing the lid on the jar when this is warm will cause condensation to form under the lid, which will water down the lotion and form bacteria. When the lotion is cool, screw on the jar lids. Store at room temperature for up to 3 months, or in the refrigerator for 6 months.

Chicken Review

I made the Roasted Orange Chicken with Thyme and Potatoes tonight.

It took WAY longer than I anticipated and our 5pm dinner turned into 6:30. That happens though. I thought this dish was really good. The sauce is very yummy and I highly recommend it. Total time for the potatoes and chicken was 2 hours. A little long for my taste, but I made enough to have leftovers for 2 days. Not too shabby. The potatoes were just ok. I wasn't that impressed with them. My tatoes didn't turn out as crunchy.

What's For Dinner?

Pinterest time.

Tonight we are having this yummy chicken and potato dish. I am pairing it with a side of steamed carrots and zucchini.

Stay tuned for the review.

Roasted Orange and Thyme chicken with Crusty Potatoes

Pinterest

Pinterest demands it's very own post.

Here I am: Made By Lora on Pinterest. Give me a shout out and I would love to see what you are following.

My boards probably need a little bit of organizing, but some times I just don't have time to sort. You know, my brain doesn't work like that. It's pin, move on. Pin again.

So with all these pins I have been really feeling like performing on them. So, here we go. A new thing at Made By Lora. I hope to share with you some of my favorite "Pin Reviews" as I do them. I have already done a few and neglected to take my own photos, so I will just use the author of the pins photo (photo credit provided).

Here's where I stand on my pins thus far and what is on the horizon:

Homemade Mayo
After my husband swore that he would not eat my homemade mayo because of the whole raw egg factor, I quickly googled and proved to him that store bought mayo also uses raw eggs. The difference is that my mayo will not withstand sitting on a shelf for 8 years because it does not have perservatives. I found the recipe: HERE


I followed the recipe exactly and this is what I ended up with:

It looks like this blogger was able to get a higher yield of mayo with the same amount of ingredients, no?


The mayo turned out very yummy. I used Olive Oil. I think next time I will try a different oil. It was a little too "olive oily" tasting for my preference, but not horrible.

I then decided to use my homemade mayo to make some homemade chicken salad.

Homemade Chicken Salad
You can find the pin and recipe HERE

This recipe is divine. It is such a welcome change to my normal sandwich routine. I eat at home almost every day for lunch and it gets quite boring. This was a nice addition to the routine. I think I might limit how much I make it from a calorie stand point, but this nursing mother who recently had the stomach flu, welcomed this mayo-e tasty delight.


I decided to make homemade focaccia bread to go with my sandwich. It was super duper easy and really jazzed my sandwich up, and was great for a pasta dinner that night.


The Bread Bible book is my go to book at the moment for homemade bread recipes. My son has requested english muffins next!


Here is the recipe:
2 C lukewarm water
2 tsp yeast
3 tsp salt
4 C unbleached flour
2-3 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp kosher or sea salt

Place the warm water in a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over it, and stir until it is dissolved. Add the salt and 2 cups of flour, and with a balloon whisk, stir briskly until the mixture is smooth.

Using a sturdy wooden spoon, stir in the remaining 2 cups of flour until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a loose ball. The dough will still be quite sticky. If it doesn't form some semblance of a ball, add additional flour (1/4 to 1/2 cup)until it does.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to ferment for about 12 hours.

Two hours before you are ready to shape the focaccia, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to stand in a warm place to rise again.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Line two 13 x 8" baking sheets with parchment paper and gently pour the dough onto the sheets, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Dimple the dough deeply with your fingers and stretch each portion into an oval or rectangle about 1 inch deep. Brush it with olive oil, sprinke with rosemary and salt, and place into the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the focaccia is a deep golden brown with darker areas around the dimples.

Art for Nolan's Room
Last month I put forth some effort in making a nice room for my 1 year old.
I was in love with this painting PIN

So I replicated it


Homemade Hand Soap
This was a lifesaver. I made this homemade hand soap and it is lasting FOREVER! Saving tons of money. With a family of 4, hand washing is a near constant thing. !MAKE THIS

ON THE HORIZON
Here are a few things I have on the horizon

EmersonMade knock off outfit
I love THIS outfit

So I have plans on replicating it.
I plan on using these two patterns and modifying them to get this look.

I will be modifying the neck line
And this skirt, I will be eliminating the sash.


Hand Lotion
I just ran out of hand lotion, so I will be making this tomorrow. Body Lotion

Those are my two pins before Hawaii. However, I am making something for my nieces birthday.. soooo.. here's hoping that a week brings me busy hands.. and carpel tunnel from hands at that!

HAPPY PINNING!

No Shampoo Challenge

Are you on Pinterest? Pinterest is like a dream come true for me. As I have many ideas floating around in my head, I usually lose track of the things I want to try or need to do. Pinterest is such a guilty little pleasure for me. And there is an app for my phone, so I can sneak some "pinning" here and there.

The first thing I started "following" on pinterest was all the DIY stuff out there. If you know me, you know I am a freak for DIY. Oh I love it. I love the challenge, I love the fulfillment, I love the movement. I have long wanted to make all my household supplies. I love using every day products that are not harmful to myself or children, in things like cleaners, detergents, AND now, shampoo.

I have been reading a ton about people opting out of using shampoo and conditioner: you can see blogs that detail it out here, here, and here. Let's face it. This stuff seems a little silly at times. You buy 2 containers of product and really is it doing much for you?

It isn't working for me. I moved to a small town a couple of years ago and left the big city full of amazing hair colorist and stylist. Now, after many attempts, I did find someone that could actually do a good highlight, but along the journey I found many people who had no idea how to highlight hair. That left me with having many stylist trying to "fix" their mistakes and ultimately damaging my hair to no end. So when I would go to the next stylist and tell her of my horrible journey, she would list out the many products that I "needed" to fix the damage.

Alas, a lot of money later my hair is still damaged and dry.

I spent $48 on this:


I spent $30 on this tiny bottle:


In an attempt to try and help my now damaged hair, I decided to try and let my hair fix itself. I found the website Simple Mom through Pinterest and she gave a great tutorial on how to go "poo" free.
This is what I needed:

Baking Soda and water for shampooing:

photo from Simple Mom

Apple Cider Vinegar for conditioning.

photo from Simple Mom
and Coconut Oil on days that my hair is really dry


I am currently still using conditioner because I have a ton left. As soon as I am done with that I will go with the vinegar and coconut oil.

I have thick hair. It's curly. It's sometimes a big mess of a mane to care for. I was reluctant to start this home remedy because I really didn't think it would work. BUT it is working. This morning I woke up to my hair not feeling dry. I didn't use pomade to try and control out of control damaged hair and it is shiny (but not too shiny).

Can it be? Can this really be the answer to my hair woes?

Tell me if you try it. I will post a picture on an actual day I don't pull my hair back.

Little knits

Being a knitter, crafter, doer.. I am always looking for things to challenge me. My first item that I made was a super bulky scarf. Yes, it took me about 2 weeks and it was on the biggest needles ever. I wanted a "fast" knit. And two weeks was super fast back then.

Fast Forward to now and here I am, using the tiniest little needles, with the thinnest yarn, for one sweet little girl.. who happens to turn 2 in a mere few weeks. I am knitting fast, but I am uncertain that these small needles and yarn will get me anywhere fast.

When showing this to my friend, she said "well you had a choice. Why didn't you make her a bulky "something"?"

It's the challenge.
and it's on.

Check back for updates.

Here is the sweet Lulu's present last year. My challenge with this pixie coat was teaching myself how to cable.
If you would like to make this, here is the pattern Pixie Coat. It was a middle tier knit in terms of difficulty. If you have questions regarding the pattern, please feel free to contact me.